


No Promises

by celeste9



Category: 12 Monkeys (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 09:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7042138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The gun fires and Cole doesn't think. He moves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Promises

**Author's Note:**

> For the May h/c bingo challenge (small fandoms). Just when I'd given up hope this random idea occurred to me while I was watching 12 Monkeys last night. \o/ For the prompt 'major illness or injury'.

The gun fires and Cole doesn’t think. He moves. He moves and Cassie’s on the ground and he’s – 

Cole’s been shot before. He knows how it feels. 

It still hurts like hell. Every time.

He hears the sound of another gunshot and he thinks, _Cassie, Cassie, no –_

But he sees her, he sees her gun raised from where he’s still flat on the dirty street, and he almost wants to smile. He might have, if his middle hadn’t felt like it was on fire, if his hands weren’t wet with what he knows is his own blood as he tries to keep his insides, well, inside.

“Cole,” Cassie’s saying, leaning over him, loose strands of her hair falling into his face. Her small hands are moving all over him as she assesses the damage, as she works to keep him breathing. “You shouldn’t have done that. Cole, you stupid idiot, you shouldn’t have done that.”

Cole’s breath catches in his throat but he coughs and manages to say, “Was gonna shoot you.”

“I don’t need you to protect me.”

“I know,” he says, and he maybe is smiling a little now, he can feel it stretching at his mouth. “That’s why I did it.”

“You idiot,” Cassie says again, and she’s frustrated and angry, exasperated and annoyed, but she’s fond, too, and her face is the last thing Cole sees as his eyes fall shut.

-

He flickers in and out.

He hears Cassie. “Cole, stay with me, Cole, you have to fight, please, Cole, I can’t do this on my own.”

She’s worried and panicked and Cole is sorry for having made her feel that way but he’s not sorry for what he’s done.

He thinks he sees her, sometimes, blonde hair, large eyes, pretty mouth, but he doesn’t know if it’s in his own head or if he’s really seeing her. He isn’t sure what’s real and what’s in his head anymore.

Except for the pain. He knows that’s real.

-

He wakes and the ground beneath his back is gone, he’s lying on something soft but firm. His head feels muddled, unfocused. The pain is just a dull ache. His eyes are closed but the light seeps through, bright and unyielding.

“You’re awake.”

Cole turns his head and opens his eyes, seeing Cassie seated beside him. He’s in a hospital. It must have been bad, then.

“Are you okay?” he asks. His throat feels rough and his voice comes out raspy.

“I think that’s supposed to be my line,” Cassie says, irritated, but she’s smiling a little anyway. “How do you feel, Cole?”

He looks down his arm to the IV line that’s attached to his vein. “Like I’m on something pretty great.”

Cassie chuckles. “Don’t go getting any ideas about jumping in front of bullets for the pain meds.”

“Can’t make any promises.”

Cassie’s smile fades, her expression turning serious. “Promise me you won’t do something stupid like that again? Not for me, Cole. Not for me.”

Cole reaches towards her and she takes his hand, holding it in hers. “You know I can’t make that promise either.”

“I thought you’d say that,” she says, sounding resigned. Her thumb is rubbing over the back of his hand.

He tries to think of something to say, something reassuring, maybe, or a joke to lighten the mood. He looks at her and he can’t think of anything, only that he knows he would do anything to keep her alive and he doesn’t think that’s what Cassie wants to hear.

He’s seen her die. He won’t do it again.

“Cole,” Cassie says, but then she stops. She hesitates like she’s as lost for the right words as Cole is. She settles on, “You could have died, Cole.”

“So could you.”

This doesn’t seem to appease her. Her forehead’s creased, eyebrows drawn in, mouth downturned. She doesn’t say anything more, though, she just leans forward, bending over him.

The touch of her lips to his forehead is soft and gentle and Cole thinks maybe it was worth getting shot for.

_**End** _


End file.
